Here’s a little reminder to be grateful today to the Lord for all the milestones in your journey of faith! Let’s be thankful for God’s faithfulness. Through every trial, He has remained steady. When we felt uncertain, He was sure. When we were weary, He carried us. His promises have never failed, and His mercy meets us each morning. He is faithful!
Blessings,
Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman
1. Every step out of the will of God is a downward step.
No one ever disobeyed God and went up. You only go down.
“Down” to Joppa.
“Down” into the ship.
“Down” into the sea.
“Down” in the belly of the great fish.
2. We get away quickly, we recover slowly.
It’s easy to go down, easy to get off the right path, easy to fall into sin. But the road back is difficult and often very painful.
3. Satan can work through circumstances just like God can.
Satan has his ships, and he always has room on his ships. His ships always go where we want to go when we’re running from God. He can make disobedience look good by means of favorable circumstances.
As he gets ready to take a nap, Jonah may have thought, “Things are going so well for me. This must be God’s will.” But if he thought that, he was wrong. The Lord had already made his will clear. No set of favorable circumstances can override what God has clearly said. Down deep he knew God’s will. He just didn’t want to do it.
No set of favorable circumstances can override what God has clearly said.
You may wonder, “Where is the grace of God in this story?” The answer is simple. He let Jonah disobey. He didn’t kill him on the spot. He gave him the freedom to mess up his own life. That didn’t seem like grace at the time, but it was. God works even in the midst of our disobedience to bring us to himself. Sometimes God lets us go way off course so that when we finally see our sin for what it is, we are ready to return to the Lord.
Meanwhile Jonah’s disobedience looks pretty good so far. “Happy sailing, Jonah. Watch out for that big fish.”
This is how life really works. Sin looks good for awhile. Jonah experienced the “pleasures of sin for a season.” If sin always brought immediate misery, it would be a lot less attractive to us. Stolen water may be sweet, but it leads you to the gates of hell.
The bitterness comes later.
The sadness comes later.
Sin is fun for a while. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Jonah is about to find that out the hard way.
Stay tuned for the rest of the story.
Father, we’re glad that your grace is greater than our sin. Some of us have loved ones who seem to be living the high life on the ship to Tarshish. Some people seem to have gotten away with disobedience. Lord, we wonder where you are.
Maybe some of us right now are looking to take a ride on a ship heading for Tarshish. Speak to us. Wake us up. Help us to believe more deeply in your outrageous grace.
In YESHUA’ name, amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman
Yeshua was truly the misunderstood Messiah. Most of His own people misread Him completely. They had Him in a box labeled “Insignificant Rabbi from Nazareth.”
The more He proved He didn’t belong in that box, the more they hated Him, counted Him a nobody, and ultimately despised Him. No wonder they were so desirous to kill Him in the end.
He is still misunderstood today.
The greatest mistake is to ignore Him as if He doesn’t matter or to think that you can postpone a decision. You can’t wait until His return to casually ask Him, “Sir, have you been here before?” We already know the answer to that question. He came to this earth 2000 years ago as the promised Messiah who is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, in fulfillment of all of the Old Covenant Messianic prophecies.
Don’t put Yeshua in a man-made box.
Do not make the same mistake the Jewish leaders made so long ago.
Do not put Yeshua in a man-made box.
Do not demand that He meet your expectations.
MESSIAH has come!
God has revealed His mighty arm of salvation.
Will you believe the report?
MESSIAH has come!
Do not despise Him.
Do not say, “He doesn’t matter.”
MESSIAH has come!
Will you bow before Him?
Will you open your heart?
MESSIAH has come!
To those who receive Him He gives the right to become the children of God.
What will you do with Yeshua?
Blessings,
Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman
“Hezekiah was sick and near death. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and wept and prayed to the LORD and said, ‘Remember now O LORD I pray, how I have walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart and done what is good in your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, Thus says the LORD the God of David your father, ‘I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Surely I will add to your days fifteen years.’” Is. 38:1-5.
God is gracious and compassionate. Let’s trust that what God did for Hezekiah, He will do for us.
Blessings,
Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman
Yeshua Jesus was pure, holy, and perfect in every way. He never sinned, not even one time. Though He was severely tempted, He never gave in. All the rest of us fall so far short that we cannot begin to be compared to Him. He is the only righteous man ever to walk this earth.
And we crucified Him.
His reward for doing God’s will was a bloody Roman cross. Here is the wonder of grace at work: From the murder of a perfect man came God’s plan to rescue the human race.
Messiah died for us while we were “still” sinners.
Out of the worst evil, God brought forth the greatest good. Only God could have done it. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Messiah died for us” (Romans 5:8). Note the little word “still.” We were “still” sinners when Messiah died for us. He didn’t die for us while we were still “congregation members” or “good people” or “law-abiding citizens” or “nice neighbors” or “high achievers,” but He died for us while we were still lost in our sin and far away from God. That’s the truth about all of us. Messiah died for sinners because it is only sinners that can be Refeemed!
How do we come into contact with the benefits of Messiah’s death? Reach out with the empty hands of faith and trust in Messiah as your Lord and Savior. The door to heaven is marked, “For Sinners Only.” If you are a sinner, you can come in. No one else need apply. Messiah died so that sinners like you and me could be redeemed. Here is God’s call to us today: “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow’” (Isaiah 1:18).
And here is God’s promise to those who come by faith: “the blood of Yeshua, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Are you a sinner? If you are a human being then you are a sinner!
Are you a sinner? Then here is some good news for you!: What we could not do for ourselves, God has done for us through the death of His Son. The only thing left is to believe in Him. Let all who read these words take them to heart. Run to the cross. Turn from your sin, lay down your self-will, and lay hold of the Son of God who loves you and died for you. Cast yourself completely on Yeshua for your salvation. If you trust in Him with all your heart, He will not turn you away. This is the promise of God to all who believe in Yeshua. May God help you to trust in Messsiah Yeshua as your Redeemer, LORD and Savior.
Written from Pastor Ray Pritchard
Blessings,
Pastor Bruce and Suzi Elman